Phymaturus maulense NUÑEZ, VELOSO, ESPEJO, VELOSO, CORTES & ARAYA, 2010
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Phymaturus maulense
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| Higher Taxa | Liolaemidae, Iguania, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | S: Matuasto del Maule |
| Synonym | Phymaturus maulense NUÑEZ, VELOSO, ESPEJO, VELOSO, CORTES & ARAYA 2010 Phymaturus palluma — DONOSO-BARROS 1966: 349 Phymaturus palluma — NÚÑEZ & LABRA 1985 Phymaturus flagellifer — NÚÑEZ 1992 Phymaturus flagellifer — NÚÑEZ 1996 Phymaturus damasense TRONCOSO-PALACIOS & LOBO 2012 Phymaturus damasense — TRONCOSO-PALACIOS et al. 2019 Phymaturus maulense — TRONCOSO-PALACIOS et al. 2019 |
| Distribution | Chile (central Cordillera) Type locality: "Vilches Alto, El Enladrillado, Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay 35 °35′ S; 70° 58′ W; 2189 m elevation". damasense: Chile; Type locality: “Las Damas” river, approximately 1.5 Km to east from Termas del Flaco (34°57’56’’S – 70°24’45’’W), 66 km SE from San Fernando, Región del Libertador Bernardo O’ Higgins, Chile. Elevation 1765-2032 m. |
| Reproduction | viviparous |
| Types | Holotype: MNHNC 3939 (Mus. Nac. Hist. Nat. Chile, Santiago), by original designation. Holotype: MNHNC 4782 (Fig. 1a). Adult male. Collectors: J. Troncoso-Palacios and F. Ferri, 14/01/2011; Paratypes: SSUC; Re 0413-17. One adult male and four adult females, same data as the holotype (Fig. 1b). Between 1765 and 2032m. MNHN;4745-48. One adult male, two adult females and one juvenile. Termas del Flaco (Río Las Damas). Collectors: H. Núñez and D. Esquerré, 01/02/ 2011. [damasense] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: in NUÑEZ et al. 2011 (in Spanish). Diagnosis (damasense): Phymaturus damasense belongs to the palluma group because it has square-shaped non-imbricate superciliaries, strongly spinose tail scales and a frag- mented subocular (Etheridge, 1995). Phymaturus damasense is characterized by having a subocular scale fragmented into three or four, females have enlarged scales in the center of the gular fold and may have precloacal pores (of the Chilean species, only P. maulense females have precloacal pores) and the scales on the anterior border of the auditory meatus are projected posteriorly. The males have a dorsal pattern formed by a thin reticulation over greenish background color and yellowish-brown tail (darker than the body), head is melanic and spotted to the snout. Females have brown background color with dark bars in the flanks (formed by small spots). Gular melanism in males and females. Phymaturus damasense differs from, P. alicahuense, P. antofagastensis, P. darwini (Fig. 1d), P. denotatus, P. extrilitus, P. laurenti, P. mallimaccii, P. paihuanense and P. punae, in that the males of these species have a dorsal pattern formed by a homoge- neous fine spotting (“spray”), typical of the puna Clade (sensu Lobo and Quinteros, 2005a) but the male of P. damasense has a dorsal pattern formed by a widespread black reticulation. Phymaturus damasense differs from P. roigorum and P. querque, because these species have gray/ brown background color (with yellow in the flanks of some males of P. querque) and thick reticulation that form ocelli in both sexes. In contrast, the males of P. damasense have greenish background color with thin reticulation that does not form ocelli, and the females have brown background color without ocelli. Phymaturus damasense differs from Phymaturus palluma (geographically nearest species in the eastern Andes), because the females of this species never have precloacal pores. Females of P. palluma have white on the sides of the head (“white face”) a character that is lacking in the females of P. damasense. The preocular scale is larger than canthal in P. palluma, but in P. damasense it is smaller than canthal. From P. “adrianae”, it differs in that female of this species have no precloacal pores or dark bars on the flanks. Females of P. “adrianae” have white on the sides of head (“white face”). The preocular scale is larger than the canthal in P. “adrianae”. Finally, P. “adrianae” inhabits the Sierra de Uspallata, in the Las Heras department in Argentina, more than 200 km northeast of “Termas del Flaco”. Phymaturus damasense differs from P. verdugo, because the males of this species have a strongly melanic head and neck, extending to the shoulders and forelimbs, but the males of P. damasense have the head spotted. In P. verdugo the nasal is separated from the rostral by four scales, but in P. damasense they are separated by two or three scales. Also, females of P. verdugo always lack precloacal pores and have melanism on the sides of the head, but the females of P. damasense have only gular melanism. Phymaturus damasense differs from P. dorsimaculatus and P. vociferator, because in these species the females have a scapular spot without a black mark in the center and they lack precloacal pores. Females of P. damasense have a black mark in the center of the scapular spot and may have precloa- cal pores. Moreover, most of the P. dorsimaculatus have second chinshields in contact (separated by two scales in P. damasense) and in P. vociferator the males have fused scapular black bars forming a conspicuous lateral melanic area between sides of the neck and shoulders (characteristicly absent in males of P. damasense). Phymaturus damasense is similar to P. maulense (Fig. 1c), but it differs in the shape of the scales in the anterior border of the auditory meatus, small and not projected in P. maulense (Fig. 2b), but enlarged and projected in P. damasense (Fig. 2a). Temporal scales are more conical and projected outward in P. damasense. Also, P. damasense has greater fragmentation of the subocular scale (three or four scales) than P. maulense (two or three scales). In P. damasense the adult females have enlarged scales in the center of the gular fold (Fig. 2c), but this character is lacking in the adult females of P. maulense (Fig. 2d). The first row of lorilabials always contacts the last subocular scale in P. maulense, but in P. damasense only contact in 22.2% of specimens. The tail is yellow in the males of P. maulense (lighter than the body) but is yellowish-brown in the males of P. damasense (darker than the body). The females of P. damasense have a series of five to eight dark bars on the dorsum which are formed by dark spots, but the females of P. maulense have a dark reticulation (similar to P. verdugo females). The females of P. maulense always have precloacal pores, but we only found pores in 33.3% of the females of P. damasense [TRONCOSO-PALACIOS & LOBO 2012]. |
| Comment | Group: This species belongs to the palluma group (fide LOBO et al. 2015). Synonymy partly after TRONCOSO-PALACIOS & LOBO 2012. Phymaturus damasense is a synonym of P. maulense fide Demangel 2016 and Pincheira-Donoso (pers. comm., 3 Apr 2017), which is confirmed by Troncoso-Palacios et al. 2019: 454. NCBI: 1799690 [damasense] |
| Etymology | “Phymaturus maulense significa Lagarto de cola gruesa y espinosa de El Maule.” (NUÑEZ et al. 2010: 69) Phymaturus damasense refers to river “Las Damas”, the place in which it was collected. |
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